HK to include mainland rice in supervision  

香港食環署赴內地查供港食物安全 大米擬納監管

據香港《大公報》報道，廣東出入境檢驗檢疫局官員表示，已實施五大措施加強供港食品監管，2013年5月起，香港食環署開始定期派員到內地巡查深加工食品生產企業。據悉，國家質檢總局正與香港方面協商，計劃近期擴至大米及米制品。

(ECNS) — Hong Kong officials are coordinating with the Chinese mainland's quality watchdog to include rice products in routine inspections, the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao reported on Tuesday.

Routine inspections have been done by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) of Hong Kong since last month to gain on-site knowledge of food to be imported to Hong Kong and Macao.

During the on-site tours of two processed food companies in Guangdong, FEHD inspected safety-related procedures, including raw material hygiene control, warehouse management and control, additive use, and production lines. FEHD officials were in general satisfied with the two companies.

Processed food imported from the mainland encompasses all deep-processed food categories, including condiments, beverages, pastries and biscuits, frozen cookies, preserved fruits, noodle products, dairy products and canned food.

The Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau established the "three exchanges mechanisms" (liaison, mutual visits and technology exchange) with its counterparts in Hong Kong. Through such platforms as the annual "Joint Meeting between Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Zhuhai," exchanges and cooperation in supervision and laboratory testing technologies have continued to grow, making exchanges with Hong Kong supervision authorities more standardized.

To ensure safe and high-quality food for Hong Kong residents, the Guangdong Bureau has tightened supervision over food imported to Hong Kong and increased penalties for law-breaking businesses.

Officials at the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said that five major measures, including putting food-export companies on record and reporting management of food additives, have been adopted for better safety supervision over food imported to Hong Kong from the mainland.

Guangdong officials said that efforts are also being made to establish a food safety demonstration zone and a well-developed black-list management system for regulating law-breaking companies. In addition, an e-tracking system and e-regulatory platform for data sharing, gathering and analysis were established.